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People
who work on the water side of Kodiak’s docks have started lining up this week
to pick up their new identity cards from the Transportation Security Agency, or
TSA. There were 613 who enrolled for the Transportation Worker Identification
Credential, also known as the TWIC card, in Kodiak.

Duane
Baird, spokesman for TSA’s Northwest Region, explains the need for the cards:

--(TWIC 128 sec“… basically in a
nationwide situation.”)

The
TWIC cardholders are not broken down into separate categories, Baird said, but
their job descriptions all have the waterfront in common:

--(TWIC 250 sec“… without having
someone escort them there.”)

Baird
said it took several months to process the applications from Kodiak because of
the background checks that were needed:

--(TWIC 323 sec“… your personal,
physical sense.”)

Those
biometric aspects include fingerprints and retinal scans. The TSA is set up at
the corner of Marine Way and Shelikof Street, in the same building as the
police annex and the public restrooms, through August 22nd. Their
hours are staggered to accommodate shift workers. On Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays, they’re open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.